Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Zambia Should Go Back To Thermal Power Generation

…Infrastructure Already Exists

Zambia’s power distribution infrastructure is amazing if you
know the source of the power lines at the Kariba Dam on the border with
Zimbabwe and Kafue Gorge or Namalundu as it is fondly known as it snakes through
the rest of the country all the way to Chililabombwe and the rest of the
country.

I have been privileged to walk across the Kariba Dam wall and
also socialise at a club on a hill overlooking Kafue Gorge power station.
However, I have not been fortunate enough to enter the power stations
themselves maybe for the simple reason that when I was an active reporter in
the early 1990s there was no need for power utility company ZESCO to take reporters
around because everything operated smoothly with load-shedding unheard of.

But back to the power lines. If you are coming from Siavonga
you cross them at a place called Kariba Store a few kilometres to the north of
Siavonga centre. As you drive on towards Lusaka, you cross them again on the
Chirundu road and from there, they disappear into the countryside until after
you cross the Kafue River when you come across a set of power lines coming from Kafue
Gorge, these heading towards Mazabuka’s Nakambala Sugar Estates.

Travelling on Great East Road, you come across the power
lines just after Silverest Primary School as they continue on to Kapiri Mposhi
up to Maposa between Ndola and Kitwe and up to Luano Power Station near Chingola
where they further crisscross to Mufulira, Nchanga and Konkola. The distance
from Kariba to Chingola is just jaw-dropping if you have travelled the breadth
and length of Zambia.

The irony of ironies, though, is that many, many people
living under these power lines do not have access to electricity.

I have been underground at Baluba Mine and Konkola Mine but I
have never been in the actual power generation stations. I would, however, imagine
what an awesome sight it is to see all those giant turbines being driven by
water to generate electric power that runs equipment and lights in industry and
in our homes hundreds of kilometres away. It is an inescapable fact that electricity
is to our lives almost as oxygen is.

Countrywide Power Outage

One can imagine that a power outage on the scale that hit eightof the 10 provinces of Zambia
on April 27, badly affected the people largely dependent on electricity for
cooking, lighting and the use of gadgets that make life easier. Even more sadly
is the effect the outage had on hospitals particularly those on life-support
machines and babies in incubators.

Energy Minister Christoppher Yaluma, sometime in 2013 indicated
that load-shedding would be history by December 2014. Five months later and
definitely beyond, load-shedding is much part of life in the country. The
question that needs to be asked even if load-shedding is sorted out for now, is
will the installed capacity be enough to meet the growing demand of electricity
for a growing population? Zambia’s population, about 4m shortly after
independence, has grown to nearly 15m. Going by the percentages, the population
is on target to hit 20 million and above in the next few years.

It is not for me to say how much has been invested in the
power sector or how much has been borrowed to fund the rehabilitation of power
generation stations. I leave that to economist friends. But what Zambia needs to do is
to work on alternative sources of energy such as solar and wind-generated
power, both of which are in abundant supply by the providence of Mother Nature.
As for the sun, Zambian in particular and Africa in general have not less than
10 hours of sunshine per day compared to places like Europe which in some
seasons, enjoy less than six hours of the sun per day.

Only recently we were told that the Kariba Dam wall hasdeveloped cracksthat need to be repaired. Perish the
thought of the consequences of an unrepaired dam wall because if things got to
a point of—God forbid—collapsing, the carnage right from Namomba fishing camp
in Lusitu all the way to the mouth of the Zambezi River in the Indian Ocean
would be unspeakable.

Zambia needs to go back to thermal power generation which
should be the easiest because the infrastructure, if not cannibalized or worse,
vandalized, is already in place. For those who have been to the ZESCO head
office in Lusaka or shop at the Levy Mall, must have seen the concrete cooling
tower in the ZESCO yard. Similar infrastructure exists at the Ndola ZESCO
workshop along the Chipulukusu/abattoir road turning off from the Itawa/Airport
road. In Kitwe, there is one at the Mopani Copper Mines near the smelter. I am
sure these can also be found in Mufulira and Chingola as I am not very familiar
with these towns.

Thermal Power As Alternative

Developed countries such as the United Kingdom have
projected a future power shortage and are working on alternative sources of
energy even though they have nuclear power-generated electricity which by any
thread of imagination, we would never have in our life time. But we do have the
coal in Maamba and Batoka to fire the thermal stations.

Yes, it may be dirty to handle and anachronistic but it is
an alternative. Power from those thermal stations could be fed into the grid to
power Lusaka and surrounding areas, Ndola and surrounding areas and Kitwe and
surrounding areas while power from Kariba and Kafue could be directed to mines
and other industries.

When electric power generation sources increase, many people
will have access to it at a cheaper rate and will save the environment as
people will not be reliant on tree-depleting charcoal and firewood which many
people rely upon even when they are connected to the national grid but have to
face power outages.